What a month and boy it was a warm one! Yes, July served up the years best weather so far, with temperatures hitting the mid to high 20's on a regular basis throughout the month.
July started with me and Mrs S taking a short break (in the car!) to Wales and the Cotswolds but once home, it was back to all things training. Here's a round up of July.
As usual, training was a mixture of customer bespoke sessions, customer ERS assessments and BMF and RoSPA duties.
Training
Tim kicked off July on his 1200 Super Tenere with a final pre-test assessment before taking his test a few days later.....read on for his result.
Ronnie came on his KTM Superduke. Ronnie only recently returned to riding and was looking for a general assessment and some pointers regards cornering.
Enhanced Rider Scheme
Many customers come to me for a general assessment of their riding, not really knowing what accredited certified qualification options are available to them, or if they want to take one. However, quite often, once they dip their toe in the advanced riding pool, they want to know more and progress accordingly. ERS is a great stepping stone initiative aimed at (amongst others) new riders and those returning to riding.
July saw a host of returning customers successfully completing their ERS assessments.
Gareth on his 750GS came for his third session and this time successfully completed his ERS. Gareth came back to biking last year after a long break.
Ben is a lifelong 'off roader' but only obtained his full road licence 4 years ago. He came on his Yamaha 700 wanting a general assessment and went away having successfully completed his ERS!
Ben doesn't do FaceBook but said he wanted to send me a review and emailed me the following;
** Customer review **
My days experience with Ian Speight.
I am relatively new to road riding having held my bike licence for only four years, I have though ridden off road for many years, I wanted to advance my riding skill and knowledge and hope to become a more competent and above all, a safer rider.
My day with Ian proved to be all I hoped for and more, I found Ian to be very personable
My initial nerves were soon dispelled
I very much enjoyed riding under his instruction and also following him whilst he gave a commentary, his awareness of his surroundings/ potential hazards whilst riding is very impressive and his vast experience is obvious, that aside our tea stops were jolly and any paperwork and explanations were delivered in a relaxed and engaging manor. I also felt able to ask Ian any questions easily, I had no fear of sounding stupid due to his pleasant nature, we also had a good laugh along the way
All in all, a very informative, enjoyable and valuable experience and excellent value for money. I’m already booked in for another session.
Thanks Ian for great service!
Thanks go to Ben for taking the time to put that together, much appreciated.
Ben has booked his next session as he now wants to add further riding qualifications to his ERS
Paul on his BMW800GT also completed his ERS in July. Paul had his first session in June when he came to me for some refresher training after being away from bike for 36 years, yes 36! So, to pass the ERS assessment after just 2 sessions is a great result. Paul now wants to progress to the BMF Blue Riband Rider Award.
Customer test pass.
As mentioned above, Tim on his 1200 Super Tenere took his RoSPA bike test in July and passed with an excellent Silver grade. Tim had no previous experience of advanced techniques but after only 4 sessions achieved his Silver, which is a great result.
BMF Instructor assessment.
As BMFs Region 2 Chief Instructor, I conducted one Blue Riband Trainer/Assessor assessment in July with Mark on his 1200GS.
Mark is a CBT and DAS instructor and the owner of 3D Motorcycle Training near York.
He successfully passed the assessment and will now be able to offer the Blue Riband Rider Award to his customers.
RoSPA Examiner duties
Two tests conducted in July. The first was with Bev on her KTM690. Bev put in a great ride resulting in achieving a Gold pass grade. Bev is now considering her options for other riding qualifications to add to her RoSPA Gold.
Next up was Andy on his GS1200Adventure. You may remember Andy from last months round up when he took his test and was awarded a Silver. However, Andy wasn't happy with 'just' a Silver, so returned this month and this time went away a much happier chappy with a Gold.
Last training session of the month should have been with Andy on the 28th. Andy is a relatively new 'back to riding' customer having been away from bike for some time. It would have been his 3rd session. Unfortunately, the rain gods decided to end the recent spell of great weather in spectacular style, with thunder, lightning and localised flooding! Needless to say, we abandoned the session and rescheduled for another day. Sometimes you just have to know when to call it a day.
Test ride.
A1 Moto, Yorks Triumph dealer very kindly allowed me out on their new Speed Triple 1200RS. This is a brand-new model, replacing the previous 1050. I must admit that I've never ridden the previous model, or any other Triumph in their current range for that matter, so had no idea what to expect. However, I had read a couple of reviews that had been quite critical of its hard suspension.
I took the bike on some of the training routes I use around York and I have to say that it was fantastic!! The engine was amazing, the sound was awesome and the throttle response absolutely spot on. I liked the instrument cluster and all the controls seem to fall easy to hand. All in all, it was a brilliant bike to ride.
And the suspension? Well maybe A1 had tweaked it or the magazines are being overly critical but I didn't have any issues with it at all and it wasn't as if I stuck to the 'best' roads, I deliberately took it down some less than forgiving sections and still didn't have any issues.
I'm a real fan of 'naked' sports bikes, having previously owned two BMW S1000R Sports, so the Triumph was right up my street. In June I rode the new BMW S1000R and that was a great bike too. The down side of course is that these bikes will set you back between £14000-£17500 dependent on which model and which extras you choose but on the up side, both will put a great, big, fat, smile on your face and isn't that what biking is all about?!
Wonderful Wales
As mentioned earlier, Kim and I headed to Wales at the beginning of the month for a lovely 9 day break. Normally we would have headed there on the bike but this was more of a break to 'explore' a specific area of Wales, namely Pembrokeshire. We did lots of walking, visited various little towns and resorts and then headed to Bath and then up through the Cotswold and back home.
Wales is a great place to visit, with stunning scenery, great roads and a warm welcome and I suspect we'll be back again soon, but next time we'll be on the bike.
Annual bike trip.
Every year I have a bike trip with my long time biking buddy Daren. Normally we head into mainland Europe, but last year we couldn't go due to Covid, so headed for beautiful Scotland. This year, with Covid still scuppering most options for a biking holiday abroad, we decided to do Scotland again but to stretch it out a bit more, we're also going to visit Wales! So tomorrow, the 30th, we will be setting off for a 9 day, 2000 mile tour. More on that next month.
And that ends Julys round up, until next time, ride safe everyone.
Ian S